Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: Brilliant taste-maker or the world's first foodiot?

Food·i·ot (noun): An overzealous gastronome whose exhibitionistic affection for food is an annoyance to his or her peers.

Writing in the September 22, 2009 issue of the New York Observer, Joe Pompeo launched a scathing attack on the rise of foodiocy and the proliferation of foodiots in New York City.

He largely blames the Internet for encouraging this phenomenon:

"New Yorkers’ water-cooler chitchat has changed. They used to talk about
sex and politics and TV shows. Now they can’t stop yapping about what
they’re shoving down their pie holes.

We see it in the meticulous record-keeping of eating habits on personal
blogs. The ubiquitous Facebook updates and tweets about subscribers’
most recent meals. (Surely you also have those five or so friends whose
feeds are 90 percent food-consumption-related?) The requisite iPhone
pic before a certain kind of diner—let’s call him a foodiot—ravages his
plate."

Food writer Melissa Clark concurred on the degree to which social networking applications have led to a rapid increase in foodiots:

"I feel like these technologies have totally unleashed the foodiot . . . People have this outlet now that they’ve never had
before. And something small, when talking to two people, takes on a
whole other magnitude when you’re tweeting it to your 1,000 friends.
You may not think you’re bragging, but because of the number of people
you’re sending it to, it takes on a greater weight."

Comments

Oops, I have to admit, I've done a little bragging on my personal blog before (the one I send to family and friends). I'm such an amateur, I get excited when complicated dishes work out. But I hope someone tells me before a large proportion of my posts become related to my own meals ;-). This is a great word, by the way.

From this definition I'm probably 50% foodiot. I admit to being overzealous and passionate about food (especially the weird stuff), but none of my friends seem to be annoyed. In fact they're always asking me if I've had any interesting meals lately without me having to initiate. You can be overzealous about anything, right? Even bashing idiots.

Well, I'm quite sure I fit the definition (just take a look at my blog). But then what? Joe Pompeu fits my definition of "paniotic" (from pan = all), as he seems to write about everything and anything. Will he quit writing because of that? Guess not. Me neither.

Oct 4, 2009 8:31:50 PMPosted By: Fin

That is getting prolific these days "foodiot" the term. I too admit would have some foodiot in me.